<p>wow great discussion… keep it coming… .:((</p>
<p>OH right! The SNOW! I’m a big runner and running in the winter with the snow on the ground was one of my favorite moments at Colgate. Here in Ann Arbor, I have to run out of the town about 2-5 miles just to see unspoiled snow.</p>
<p>Lydia08 is absolutely right about the city- cities will always be there. Rural areas not so. Colgate encourages a lot of the students to be aware of development through community service and its study trips. Rural areas are no means isolated. There are vibrant communities within them. You get who you get and you put up with them. Colgate students and faculty treat each other on a very congenial level and develop personal relationships. Everyone treats each other like family. That’s one effect of being in the Colgate Bubble. </p>
<p>If you think there are “cliques”, only very few exist and they’re self-selected from freshman year. Many other groups you saw were mostly formed by student organizations, Greek life, apartment/townhouse community, etc. Colgate’ size and community atmosphere makes it so easy for students to float from one group to another. There aren’t many groups that have similar roster lists with the exception to Delta Uplison and the football team. Everyone met so many different people that it’s really a wonder how you can meet at least 100-200 new people in your first semester. Furthermore, the Student Government Association’s Budget Allocation Committee (where groups ask for money) and as well as the administration STRONGLY encourage students to collaborate and host joint events and they have been extremely successful. So a lot of lines are being broken and crossed over. Same goes for faculty and students- they work together on projects as peers. And we love it- we get results!</p>
<p>I, too, wonder if this is your first child as well. My parents were a little surprised by all the campuses we visited (I’m the oldest) but when they did the second college tour with the younger sib, nothing really surprised them.</p>
<p>Great discussion!! Tickle and Lydia, you raise some wonderful points about the things you can experience in college that you just won’t be able to replace in the fast-paced real world. You’re right…cities and their experiences will always be there but it’s less likely that you’ll live is a beautiful small town with 2500+ peers to share the experience. Someone mentioned “everything within walking distance”. Is the town of Hamilton within walking distance of campus? We’re visiting in the fall and I can’t wait to see it!</p>
<p>Getting around is really pretty easy. There’s a 10 minute passing period between classes, but unless you’re trying to get from the Dana art building to the new Ho science building, you don’t have to rush. I’d say it’s probably a 10 minute walk (depending how deep the snow is!) from campus to the main part of town, where the Colgate Inn, Bookstore, bank, movie theater, restaurants, etc. all are. It’s a really cute, charming town. There’s an independent grocery store in town and a Grand Union a bit north. There’s a campus shuttle that runs from campus to town and out to the grocery store, so you don’t have to lug your books up the hill. They’re also putting in a Price Chopper a bit further out, apparently. They allow cars all four years (though first-year parking is maybe a 7 minute walk from the top of the hill where first-years live - soooo far when you’re at Colgate…) so it’s easy to get a ride with friends to shop in town. Once you’re a junior or senior, you can park right outside your apartment/house/townhouse.</p>
<p>You may hear current Colgate students whine about how far it is to walk down/up the hill (10 whole minutes!!!), but they just haven’t lived in the real world yet. My commute is 30 minutes and I’m lucky! I wish I could roll out of bed 15 minutes before I needed to be at work… :)</p>
<p>Lydia - How much snow are we talking about here?</p>
<p>Heh… it’s pretty snowy, but it’s a lot like most schools in the NE. Colgate is far enough south that it misses the reallllly heavy lake effect snow (Oswego, NY got 11 feet, we got 36 inches in the same storm, which is the most Colgate’s gotten in quite a while - fun day though, lots of professors couldn’t get to campus 
). It usually starts snowing around… November, though there may not be snow on the ground consistently until December. It usually lasts through March, though there may be one last hurrah in April (one year during April Visit Days it went from 65 degrees one day to a foot of snow the next (which freaked out all the prospective students), then back to 65 after 3 days…). They’re used to it there, so it’s handled really well - paths and roads are cleared before classes start, staircases are heated. It’s usually in the 30s and it doesn’t snow every day in the winter - usually you get some for a couple days and then it’s sunny for a while.</p>
<p>I grew up in Seattle where it snows maybe 2 inches on one day each year and people full-on freak out and everything shuts down, so I was worried about it too, but it’s GORGEOUS and well managed, so as long as you stick to the paths, it’s no big deal. The only reason it would take longer to get to town if there’s more snow is that you can’t cut across the big grassy areas below campus on the hill on the way to town and have to stick to the roads if it’s deeper (it does build up throughout Dec-Feb). You don’t really notice it after a while, really, since it’s out of your way. Some of the paths on the side of the hill can be a bit slippery, but they have hand rails and as long as you’re not wearing high heels, you should be fine. The weather can be a little unpredictable, but that’s part of the fun. I really miss REAL snow now (NYC snow sucks).</p>
<p>Not bad at all. Usually about 8 inches to about 15ish stay on the ground from December to March. Nobody really tries to make a “path” through the snow… I don’t know why but I’m glad that they don’t. It would just ruin the whole scene. Campus Safety is very careful as well- they’ll close any slippery paths to avoid any accidents. I’ve slid down several times by accident… fun for a moment but not fun at all when you’ve got your laptop in your bag! And it hurts like hell. So boots with excellent traction are a must. The other thing is the wind. Just KNOW that it’s really cold only along the hill when you’re walking up/down because of the wind hitting against it. On the top and down on Broad Street to the town, it’s relatively quieter and warmer in comparison. So future freshmen, don’t sit in your rooms and think “God, it’s so freaky cold up here and I don’t want to go all the way to the town to get a couple of things…” Go. It’ll be much nicer down there.</p>
<p>Just don’t expect any snow days unless your professor is driving in from Syracuse. About 90% of professors live within 10 minute drive to campus. I never got a snow day except for one independent study class… but that barely counted.</p>
<p>cool… iam scared of snow… literally… i get sick all the time…</p>
<p>Well, if I decide to go here, that’s one less preppy person :p. Nice to meet ya <em>shakes hand</em>.</p>
<p>one less?? ahaha… cool grammar… yeah</p>
<p>i know this is a random question but for my first year should i go with a single or a roomate??</p>